A Journey To The Clouds, Escape From Cloud Castle - Book Two - ✓

Chapter One

Ugh!" I groan as I look around. Ally lies next to me on the now yellow, almost brown clouds. Dark, pigmented leaves cascade onto the clouds in front of their trees, creating steady piles of them. I stand up only to fall down again.

"Connor, are you ok?" She asks me. I nod while staring at the castle behind us. She turns around and gasps as she catches sight of what I only imagined could be real. The castle. We're in the Fantasy world at least. Not on purpose, mind you.

"How did we get here again?" Ally asks, touching her forehead as an act of failed remembrance.

"Coco pushed us through the portal, remember?" I remind her. Her eyes widen as everything comes rushing back.

"Wait... so Coco pushed us back and she's in. . ." She trails off as her eyes get even bigger. She jumps up and starts running frantically around the grass.

The grass is shaped in such a way that I think that there's a magical barrier between the forest and the castle. Yeah. The one on the clouds.

"Ally, I don't think we're able to get through," I say. She sighs and stops. "Come on. Let's go see if the Crew Of Doom let anything in the castle. Like a clue on how to get back." I tell her.

"That sounds good." Ally tells me. I start walking with her on my heels.

For some reason, I'm thinking about my past. I feel almost content as I remember the memories that happened so long ago but cut a deep scar in our family. When my mom and dad were together. . . when we were in London. . .and when they got in that fight.

The fight is what I used to call "The War Of The Ages." A hysterical name considering the fight was just between them, not between the ages. It was one that felt like a way of the ages though. It was the one that decided the divorce that would be filed soon after. It was because of money. He kept spending fortunes on game tickets and rock concert tickets while she wasted money on expensive jewelry and clothes. Both lost, in the end. The only apparent solution was divorce.

"Connor, look. . ." Ally says sharply, pulling me out of my thoughts as she points to the direction they were walking towards. I look up and I instinctively take a step back. The castle is even bigger up close. Its majestic exterior overwhelms me to great lengths.

"It's... giant." I pretend to gasp as I take a few steps towards it. I catch a glimpse of Ally rolling her eyes at my unintended dad joke.

"What?" I ask smiling innocently. Then, I notice. Of course, she's laughing!

"Ok, seriously. You know what I meant." I say, grinning. Ally starts to laugh as she links her bare arm with mine.

Her skin is soft. Mine has undeniably rougher than hers only because I didn't rub my skin clean in the unicorn pool. My skin is still smeared with - now mud but I can only tell because I haven't bathed in... I don't know how long. Unless you count the dunk in the unicorn pool. Which now, come to think of it, was a few days ago.

We make it to the entrance of the castle in no time. I gasp at the sight of the burned castle. Flames were still fresh on the marble. I feel my eyes widen as I gaze in. My heart feels as though it has been burned with the structure that has once held up. I look around and see a massive table, taking up most of the right corridor. I walk over to it and try to climb the chairs. I get up there but barely. There is... nothing. No food, no plates, no nothing. Wood is the only existent material in the room. Wooden chairs, wooden walls, wooden doors, and a clean wooden surface.

Then I hear Ally's ringtone. I bet Melinda or Kylie is calling her. She answers and I can hear the shout twenty feet away from her while still on the table.

"Allison Green! Where are you? I have contacted the local hotel, your campground, where you normally stay, and . . . everywhere else!" Kylie adds in a few words that are so bad, I'm not going to tell you what they were. Ally looks absolutely petrified at the sound of Kylie's screaming voice. From the last time of hearing Kylie's voice, I can tell you she's surprised at the tone of this call.

"If you really must know, I'm in a forest. Not any forest, a magical forest. There are unicorns, and talking animals and-" she gets cut off by Kylie.

"Now I know you're insane. Where are you really?"

"I told you where I am. If you don't believe me, that's fine." Ally says.

"Hey, Ally?" I ask, spotting a piece of paper flying through the air.

"What?" she snaps, obviously upset about their fight.

I reach over and grab the paper. It's another poem.

"I'll call you back." She says, hanging up. She stands for a moment before her eyes widen at what she was about to say.

"Oh, I almost told her. No wait-I did. I'm so sorry Connor, I-" She says, pacing back and forth.

"I don't care what you did, none of that matters right now. I found a poem and I think you might need to read it."